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Nordic Republic of Fjalland
Fjalland, officially the Nordic Republic of Fjalland (Icelandic: Norræna lýðveldi á Fjalland), is a Nordic European island nation located in the Arctic Ocean. The country has a population of 378,012, and a total of 97,132 kilometers (60,355 square miles). The capital city of Tryggia, the largest city in Fjalland, is located on the central-eastern coast, and home to three-fifths of the population. Fjalland's far western extremities are highly volcanic and geological active, while the rest of the nation is relatively rugged and heavily forested. Currently, the nation is a unitary single-party state, and has been described as a fascist police state by critics. The head of the state and government is the Höfðingi, the current being Friðbjörn Þórhallursson. The Bókin á Daga denoted 907 AD as the original date of settlement, with the Icelandic chieftain Eiður Galdursson, and his followers left the island over land and resource disputes. Over the next several decades and later centuries, few visitors settled the island of Fjalland, though harsh conditions such as the fierce snow storms and bitter winter cold, which kept the population low until the beginning of the late-19th century. The isolation of the island from the outside world due to the hazardous weather between the island and Europe, meant that Fjalland was culturally, economically, and technologically backwards for most of its history. Today, Fjalland is one of the wealthiest and well-developed nations in the world, with a modern infastructure and advanced economy. Though it is a strict police state, the government allows limited freedoms, and the people are responsible for setting the morals and beliefs of their nation, while the government itself protects these decisions of the majority, and stomp out any signs of dissent. Fjalland avoided the finacial crisis of 2008, as its economy was largely self-contained and ran on domestic investments rather than foreign ones. Thus, the economic growth of the nation has remained constant. Fjalland is a nuclear-weapons state and has an active space program. History Main article: History of Fjalland Settlement and Union (907–1186) The Bókin á Daga states that the Fjalland uninhabitanted by any people or tribes, and was very similar to Iceland in geography, sitting on the same geological rift seperating the Eurasian and North America plates. The island was settled by Eiður Galdursson in 907 AD after a conflict with the chieftains on Iceland over fishing rights and grazing land. He and followers who too had a stake in the location of these grouns left with him for Greenland, though they had decided to return to Norway. They were blown off course, and ran aground on the island of Fjalland. The island was claimed as property of Eiður when no other settlers could be found, and island itself was named Fjalland, taking its name from the mountainous terrian it had. Eiður Galdursson built his homestead at present-day Örugga Höfn in 907, near the city of Tryggia. There, he and his followers established the Allsherjarþing shortly after the settlement to regulate the handling of land claims and settlement rights, which soon saw the Allsherjarþing develop into a legislative and judiciary body, which came to govern the Fjalland Union in 934. The island remained unknown to the rest of continental Europe and fellow Iceland until 1003 when the Kingdom of Norway discovered the old settlement, and established trade relations with the people of Fjalland. However, in the follow century and a half, the Fjallanders refused to join the kingdom, and in 1179, the Norwegians invaded the island in the Fjallandic War. The Norwegians invaded the small island with a force of 3,800 troops, and attempted to force the Union into joining the kingdom as a vassal state. Fjallandic law at the time required every male citizen possess a weapon, and have adequate training with it to prevent raids from the kingdom from the past. The laws provided Fjalland with a force of 18,000 able-bodied warriors from a population that stood at 65,000 at the time of the war. The Norwegians and the Fjallanders fought a number of bloody battles, most of them Norwegian victories. However, during the war's end, all of the battles where decisive Fjallandic victories, though with massive loss of life, though they ensured the independence of the island up into the modern day. However, the resources and manpower for the island were greatly thinned, leading to the Era of Erfiðir Tímar, ot the Era of Hand Times. Era of Erfiðir Tímar (1186–1568) Following the decisive Fjallandic War in 1186, most of the able-bodied men of Fjalland had been killed or wounded in the fighting, leaving on young men and women to handle the difficult tasks of sustaining the island's population. Mining was near impossible as the only experienced miners had been killed, and the new ones had no idea how to survive in the cold damp caves that provided the island with raw materials. The fishing industry on the island had been a man's occuption since the island's settlement, and the women had been more accustom to handling farming and grazing, but not fishing, where most of the food came from. Starvation and economic collapse saw the island's old government implode and the economy die on the spot after the conflict. Civil war and social unrest would continue for some 400 years until the time Fjalland was able to reorganize itself under a single stable government. During the Era of Erfiðir Tímar, Fjalland experience a massive population decline, from 65,000 at its start in 1186, to 21,000 by its end in 1568. The once unified Fjalland Union broke apart as veterans of the Fjallandic War fought to take over the then defenceless island, and establish hegemony over all the settlements. Bandits and thieves filled the land as women took up the arts of war to protect their wounded and ailing husbands and children from the roving bands of murderers looking for food and money. One particular woman, Unnur Haukurdottir, came close to uniting the island under one ruler in 1307, but was defeated in combat by the warlord Sverrir Hrafnkellsson, who had her tortured to death and tore apart before her body parts were dumped into the ocean. Sverrir was in turn killed by his men when he cheated them out of their spoils, and the closest the island came to unity was dashed. This kind of fighting and destruction would become a way of life for the next two and half centuries as no one warlord could establish complete control over the entire island. Some came very close, but were ultimately defeated by members of their own army as dreams of gradure overcame the once well-oiled war machine under their command. These armies produced some of Fjalland's greatest folk heros, and served as an example then and today of the courage and fortitude of the Fjallandic people. However, the era as with all things came to a joyous, abliet somewhat bloody end. The island was eventually united by Sigmar Tindursson in 1568, who later became known as Sigmar I of the Kingdom of Fjalland. By the end of the era, some 17,000 people had been killed as a direct result of war. The era was the bloodiest in the entire history of Fjalland. Kingdom of Fjalland (1568–1872) Under the House of Fossar, named after their native town Fosserborg, Kingdom of Fjalland was established as the successor to the Fjalland Union in 1568, and the represenative of the Fjallandic people. The ascension of King Sigmar I of Fjalland brought much hope needed to push forward after the days of destruction in the past. The kingdom ushered forth a time of political growth, economic expansion, military redevelopment, and social progression, though only so for the latter. The city of Tryggia was designated as the capital of the kingdom, moving for the long devestated and rebuilding city of Örugga Höfn. The plans of the royal family were to make Fjalland the equal of its Scandinavian cousins, and restore the old luster the Union had before its fall. This would be accomplished over the next 300 years, and end with the dissolution of the kingdom. The kingdom did much to revive trade with the outside world, the most memorable example being the establishment of a permanent trade route with England in 1600, after the Queen of England, Elizabeth I, allowed an audiance for the Fjalland diplomat Hlynur Þorolfursson to discuss the possibility for the English to provide the island with food and weapons in exchange for fine gold and diamonds, of which Fjalland had plenty. The trade expanded to included wool and finish wares, and by the 1800s, the British Empire was sending coal to Fjalland, and Fjalland was sent crude oil in return. The economic development of the island was slow, but saw a great shift in the standard of living, in which there was a 50% increase in the literacy rate, and a 15.6% increase in the life expectancy. By the mid-1800s, the old monarchy was growing increasingly unpopular as many of the working class felt that the King and his family along with nobles were opening up their realm to the liberal ideas of the world, and comprimising on Fjallandic values. King Sindri VII sought to prevent a possible civil war, and in 1874, abidicated and dissolved the monarchy, citing that if the people wished for the King and his nobles to go, then they would recieve their wish. The Nordic Republic of Fjalland was established latered that year, and the formation of an isolationist government took place. Fjalland, once open to the world and its beliefs, was now closed off to it in a last ditch effort to preserve its way of life. Nordic Republic of Fjalland (1872–Present) Many in Fjalland viewed the world as soulless, as the European nations began to accept ungodly beliefs such as evolution and "alternate" views of the universe's creation. The religious community of Fjalland, comprised of the majority of the population, some 73%, believed that Europe was giving up its religious morals to get away with their own ideas and take God out of the picture lest they have someone to answer to for their crimes. The bishops of Fjalland led the way as the people demanded the King of Fjalland, who was accepting of the newfound ideals and theories, to abidicate, and leave governance to god-fearing people such as the members of the Allsherjarþing. He did so, and in 1874, the head of the Allsherjarþing, Örn Pálmisson, became the first Höfðingi of Fjalland. During the years immediately following the formation of the new government, a new constitution was drafted, citing that only members of the Church of Fjalland could hold a public office, there was only one true god, and that Christianity was the state religion period. While the liberal-thinking Scandinavia chastised Fjalland for its "backwards" thinking, Fjalland disowned its Nordic brothers, and stated that they had long ago lost their thinking to conform to someone else's, leading to a long and icy relationship before Fjalland and the Nordic nations, which remains to this day. This political isolation of Fjalland resulted in the early development of its now self-sufficent economy, and its later classification as a true autarky. The Fjallandic government remained neutral in World War I despite pressures from the British government to join the fighting, and later blockade of the nation to prevent it from being used as a safe port for the German U-boats, though it was later revealled that the blockade was a failed attempt to strangle Fjalland into join the Allied Powers. The Fjalland remained neutral in World War II was well, with the Allies attempting and failing to occupy the nation to "protect" it from Nazi Germany, though the military of Fjalland managed to successfully fight off the invading forces. Fjalland, angered at the two attempts to occupy and force it into the conflict by the British and Americans, led to later protecting of Nazi war criminals who did much to aid the nation in developing its military and economy into a juggernaut of a force. The current way of life in Fjalland is largely built around the Hugrekki policy of self-reliance and defiance of international law. Cloning research, development of nuclear weapons in spite of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, and utilization of eugenics, all done in the supposedly "morality upright" Western World, have all been commited by Fjalland, not only to progress the nation technologically, but to stand in complete opposition to the laws of the West. Sanctions against it have failed as a result of their autarky, political pressure failed given their isolation policies, and attempts to gain intelligence on the island have failed because of the all-pervasive secret police in the nation. As of 2012, Fjalland stands as Europe's only "hermit kingdom". Geography Main article: Geography of Fjalland Goverment Main article: Government of Fjalland Administrative Divisions Foreign Relations Military Main article: Fjalland Security Forces Economy Main article: Economy of Fjalland Transport Energy Science and Education Demographics Main article: Demographic of Fjalland Urbanization Language Religion Culture Main article: Culture of Fjalland Art & Media Cuisine Sports Category:Nordic Republic of Fjalland